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Diana Reynell

Leading grotto restorer known for her indomitable and unconventional spirit

September 5 2017, 12:01am, The Times

Diana Reynell devoted herself to reintroducing grottoes to houses that had been without them for centuries

Diana Reynell was a woman untroubled by inhibitions. When she found her first grotto to restore, a room dug into the side of the Marlborough Mound for its early châtelaine Lady Hertford, she barrelled up to one of the college housemasters, EGH Kempson, and asked whether he had any former pupils who might be interested in helping her. He said he knew that Simon Verity had always had an interest in grottoes and she headed straight to the V&A, where he was employed. Her avidity was not easily dampened by his gainsaying and so it was that Verity found himself returning to his alma mater to assist in her endeavours.

The work proved simultaneously stimulating and taxing for them. Verity recalled: “This heralded a most…

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